


The Prodigal daughter

by Pififtyone



Category: Heroes Rise
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Psychological Trauma, Psychological Warfare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-07-19 02:08:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7340326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pififtyone/pseuds/Pififtyone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Set three years after the battle of the Devoid, Prodigal is trying to make amends for her past mistakes, but things start to spiral out of control as her past refuses to let go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The start

Redemption.

_Three years have gone by since the Devoid war, where Rush sacrificed his life to bring down Victon’s regime with the help of other powered hero, but most surprising the villain Prodigal. Now life has returned to almost normal, until now…_

I sit on the ledge of the building, staring down at the smouldering remains of a nightclub and wince taking in the carnage laid out before me. I hear a groan beside me and turn to see Twister, a new villain trying to make a name for himself, lying knocked out beside me; at least I managed to prevent from…er, oh yeah levelling the…Oh, well that’s awkward. I am still trying to get used to this hero gig, so I suppose the fact that he isn’t part of the ash down there is a victory. Yay go me! In the distance I hear the sounds of sirens approaching, signalling that it is my time to leave. Not everyone has been as forgiving as Rush was; I leave Twister all wrapped up for them beside the smouldering rubble, before flinging my arms out, the metallic wings on my back extend outwards to the controls in my hand, locking in place once they reach there. Then with a quick run, I leap into the air, the thrusters behind me pushing me forward and upwards in the city skyline; I zigzag through the buildings, keeping low to avoid detection from other heroes. I land on top of a building and pull down my visor, it zooms in on my thought command and I look to the top of the Rush building, named in honour of the fallen hero. I see a little girl, with dark hair, playing out on the balcony of the penthouse; it is a bittersweet sight for me, knowing that she is safe yet the fact that I haven’t been within 10 feet of her in two years, since I cradled her in my arms and gently rocked her to sleep.

I lose myself for a moment in the past, memories appearing before my eyes as I stand on top of the building. Shaking my head, I turn to leave, but a bleep from my computer grabs my attention; I don’t have a Mechip, instead I have a homemade version of it, far more powerful and useful. In front of me appears a job from the government server, informing heroes about a job opportunity; usually I tend to avoid these jobs as heroes eventually swarm the place causing mass confusion and damage. I leap off of the building, quickly taking flight as I began to fall. Within minutes I arrive at the location displayed of the job board, landing on a rooftop overlooking the apartment building and pull up the job description ‘ _Warning: Threat level Very High, only the most experienced heroes should attempt this job. A known powered assassin has been located at an apartment building in downtown Millennia City renting an apartment on the third floor, the assassin is to be considered extremely dangerous and very powerful; they are believed to have been the ones to assassinate Rush during the Devoid War._ ’ It was that last part that grabbed my attention, I knew something was off with this job, everyone was told that President Victon had killed Rush; I had been there and seen what had happened with my own eyes. This entire job seemed off, something wasn’t quite right about this job; it seemed too perfect.

Cautiously I landed on the roof of the apartment building and kicked open the door, taking the stairs down to the third floor, checking for any surprises waiting ahead of me. The place seemed familiar to me, but with my fractured mind somethings can get lost between the cracks of my memory; as I approach the apartment, I begin to hear the sounds of a fanfare playing and people cheering. I take a deep breath and then smash through the door, my plasma pistols already in my hand. Before me is are crates, all covered in grime and filth, and nothing much else; a door on the left led on to another room. Here there was something interesting. One of the windows was open, with a stand and some binoculars on them, approaching carefully I look through the binoculars and saw the Millennial Group parade, celebrating all the heroes who had been a member at one time or another. Suddenly I hear a click, then there is a flash of light and a gunshot; I stumble backwards away from the window, rubbing my eyes. I hear a whoosh and sent flying through the wall, crashing into the crates in the other room; A man stands over me, well half-man half-bird thing. He places a foot on my chest, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a radio saying “Alpha, I have located the assassin, but I was unable to prevent her from taking the shot.’ I see something out of the corner of my eye, a label on the crate next to me and suddenly I immediately realise why this place is familiar; on the side of the crate, slightly smudge, I can just about make out ‘Artillery’.

Shit. I know what this place is. It was to be phase 2 of my plan, after me and Rush had had a climatic encounter and I lost, it was the back-up to discredit him, but I never got the chance to activate it. I lie very still for a second, straining for the tell-tale sound of the bombs; from one of the crates comes a gentle ticking, going really quickly at first, but starting to slow down. I do not want to be here when it stops. I activate the thruster on my back, sending both me and the man flying crashing into other crates in the room. I see my plasma pistols in front of me, I dive forward and grab them, before letting of a couple of shots at the bird-man, hitting square in the chest. I don’t check to see if he is alive. I can already here the clicking nearing stop; I run for the window and crash through it, free falling for a second before extending my wings and soaring away from the apartment block.

Behind me there was an explosion, blowing out the entire third floor of the apartment block. I hover in the air and stare at the building, holding my breath and watching as it begins to slowly topple over, colliding with another apartment block next to, both disintegrating on impact such was the force. I turn away as I see the bodies begin to fall, as the people begin to scream. Quickly I turn away and speed of, avoiding all the incoming heroes and police forces. I land on the rooftop overlooking the Rush building and press a hidden button on one of the large air condition units, opening it to reveal a room in it, my HQ now. I collapse into the bed as the door slides shut behind me and stare at the ceiling, thinking about who would have known about that place. I struggle to form a list of candidates, but I didn’t inform a single person about my plans; what I do know for certain though is that this is far from over.


	2. Null

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the city now in a panic about the shooting, Prodigal's life has just become more difficult.

The next few days pass quietly. Lucky was hit by the sniper shot in the parade and is now in a coma in Millennia City General; I have yet to be blamed for the shot. Yet. But with the crates of Artillery lying all over the place, it will seem pretty clear to them that I had something to do with it. Sighing, I shake my head and stand up, looking out across the city skyline. Behind me there is THUD! As something seems to crash behind me. I spin around, plasma pistols already in my hands as I stop; turns out the something was a someone. That someone was Null. She is looking at me, hand hovering over her weapon. Neither of us move. “Jenny” I say, not lowering my pistols. “Prodigal” She responds, not moving her hand away either. We stay like that for a few minutes, wondering who will move first, before Null slowly, very carefully raises her hands. I slowly lower my pistols, but don’t drop them; if we came to blows, I have doubts about whether I would be able to beat her, what with her cyber enhancements.

“There is going to be a mission posted for your arrest” Null states, she’s tense as if I’m about to attack her. That is not good, I like work in a incognito way, that’s now gonna be impossible now with every hero in the city now hunting me. If they bring me in, they’ll think that they may get a place as part of the Millennial group. “For once, Null, I’m innocent” I respond, trying to edge slightly towards the side of the roof, I suspect she won’t care. She never really liked me. Probably because I completely screw Rush’s first few weeks as a hero, she always had a soft spot for him. And the fact that I nearly destroyed the city, yeah that definitely could have something to do with it. But she surprises me this time “Actually I know you're innocent.” She responds, suddenly relaxing and walking to the side of the roof. “Really?” I ask, slightly confused; “Yeah” She says, “Because I know you made him a promise and I made you a promise that day as well. You remember?” I nod, she did make a promise, she promised me that if I became a villain again she would personally beat me within an inch of my life. She is probably one of the few who could. “Good” She responds.

We stand in silence for a bit, both of our gazes fixated on Rush tower in the centre of the city. She broke the silence first “So, who do you think it is?” She asks, I look over to her. I had given it some thought over the past few days, but no names really jumped at me, to be honest it could be most people. Jury would be a likely candidate, I did frame him for an assassination, but he wouldn’t actually shoot another hero in revenge. Turning to face Null I respond “No, I don’t know that many people, let’s be honest, few actually care enough to take revenge on me.” Null nods for a second, thinking over my answer before responding “Well then, for today you get a free pass from me, but when we next meet and you don’t have the person who did it, I’ll be blame you for it. And then we know what will come next.” That last part sends a tingle down my spine, I would rather not tangle with her. Extending my wings I take flight, soaring across the sky as I head back to the place I call home. Up in the sky, I feel free, free as a sparrow; I always struggled with that, growing up hidden away from the world. Even when I was fighting Rush I always felt bound to my destiny, and the fight between me and him, like I never really had a choice in the matter about who I was.

Then my I hear a frantic beeping coming from my radar, it shows a missile following me, gaining. Quickly I bank right down and then left, hoping to throw it off, but it sticks. And it's still gaining. Shit. I start zigzagging my way down the street, taking sharp turns where ever I can. I start to panic now. Cause I just realised that there is only one missile that can lock-on that well, and I created. That missile stops tracking its target, and it has sufficient fuel to keep this chase going longer than I can. I used to have a disabler encase any of my one weapons were used against me, but I can’t remember where I put it and I doubt I could create one now. I have only one choice. Quickly I slam a button on my belt and quickly curl into a ball as a energy shield expands around me. This is gonna hurt. A lot. The missile makes contact, detonating. I am flung through the air, the shield protecting me from most of the concussive force. Until I crash into a building, then the shield fails. I fly through the office space, bouncing of pillars, crashing through booths. Thank God it’s a Sunday. Finally I come to a stop, my body aching all over, a cleaner walks past, headphones blaring out music, vacuuming the floor behind me, not seeming to notice the trail of destruction. Worst fucking cleaner ever...and unluckiest. Picking myself up I head for the roof, leaving the cleaner to discover the carnage. I reach the roof and lean against the door, closing it behind me. I can barely stand, getting home is going to be interesting.


End file.
